Home

Every title, open to everyone

The Trial Preparation Library

Two hundred and fifty-seven quick bites, each a two-page cheat sheet. Not a course to work through: the drawer you open when you have a two-minute question and need the answer now. Every sheet is written and searchable today; the videos are going up as they are shot. The whole index is below. Eight are open to anyone, the rest come with a membership.

257 bites
257Quick bites
6Libraries
Fed + CalSide by side
WeeklyNew video
Open to everyone Foundation is a green lightEvidence 101 · cheat sheet · free The spontaneous statementEvidence 101 · cheat sheet · free Commit, credit, confrontDepositions · cheat sheet · free
Evidence 101DepositionsExpertsTrial SkillsWar RoomJury Selection
Library 01 · Evidence 101

Evidence Fundamentals & Hearsay

The working order of objections, and the whole hearsay system. This is the library you open most often, and every other library leans on it.

9 modules
82 quick bites
4 open to everyone
01.01Relevance and its limits 8 bites
  1. 1What makes evidence relevant
  2. 2The two-part relevance test
  3. 3Relevance versus weight
  4. 4Sections 350 and 351: the California default
  5. 5Rules 401 and 402: the federal frame
  6. 6Section 352 and Rule 403: the discretionary exclusionFree sheet
  7. 7Making and defending a relevance objection
  8. 8How to give an offer of proof
01.02Foundation and authentication 10 bites
  1. 1What foundation actually meansFree sheet
  2. 2Personal knowledge as the universal foundation
  3. 3Authenticating a document
  4. 4Authenticating email and text messages
  5. 5Authenticating social media evidence
  6. 6Chain of custody
  7. 7Foundation for photographs
  8. 8Foundation for video and surveillance
  9. 9Foundation for demonstrative exhibits
  10. 10The secondary evidence rule
01.03Witnesses, competency and impeachment 9 bites
  1. 1Witness competency
  2. 2Lay opinion testimony
  3. 3Refreshing recollection
  4. 4Leading questions
  5. 5Scope of cross-examination
  6. 6The section 780 credibility factors
  7. 7Impeachment with a felony conviction
  8. 8Specific instances of conduct, and Proposition 8
  9. 9Rehabilitation of a witness
01.04Hearsay: the four-part analysis 8 bites
  1. 1The four-part hearsay analysis
  2. 2What is a statement
  3. 3What is a declarant
  4. 4Statements not offered for their truth
  5. 5Verbal acts and operative facts
  6. 6Effect on the listener
  7. 7State of mind uses
  8. 8Why the hearsay rule exists
01.05Hearsay: the exceptions 18 bites
  1. 1Party admissionsFree sheet
  2. 2Adoptive admissions
  3. 3Authorized admissions
  4. 4Co-conspirator statements
  5. 5Prior inconsistent statements as substantive evidence
  6. 6Prior consistent statements
  7. 7Prior identification
  8. 8Present sense impression and the contemporaneous statement
  9. 9Excited utterance and the spontaneous statementFree sheet
  10. 10Then-existing state of mind
  11. 11Statements for medical diagnosis
  12. 12Business records
  13. 13Official records
  14. 14Learned treatises
  15. 15Declarations against interest
  16. 16Former testimony
  17. 17Dying declarations
  18. 18Past recollection recorded
01.06Practical hearsay 6 bites
  1. 1The hearsay flowchart
  2. 2How judges actually analyse hearsay
  3. 3The five most common hearsay mistakes
  4. 4Layered hearsay
  5. 5Hearsay inside a business record
  6. 6Section 356 and the rest of the writing
01.07Judicial notice 6 bites
  1. 1Judicial notice explained
  2. 2Mandatory versus permissive
  3. 3Judicial notice at the pleading stage
  4. 4Court records
  5. 5Government records
  6. 6The four traps
01.08Burdens, presumptions and inferences 3 bites
  1. 1Burden of proof versus burden of producing evidence
  2. 2Inferences versus presumptions
  3. 3The two classes of rebuttable presumption
01.09The objection bench 14 bites
  1. 1The objection sheet — all thirteen, one page
  2. 2Relevance
  3. 3Foundation
  4. 4Lack of personal knowledge
  5. 5Speculation
  6. 6Hearsay
  7. 7Compound and calls for a narrative
  8. 8Assumes facts not in evidence
  9. 9Misstates the testimony
  10. 10Asked and answered
  11. 11Argumentative
  12. 12Calls for a legal conclusion
  13. 13Improper character evidence
  14. 14Privilege
Library 02 · Depositions

Deposition Skills

A deposition is a trial document being written in advance. Every bite here is aimed at what the transcript will do in front of a jury.

6 modules
38 quick bites
1 open to everyone
02.01Before you notice the deposition 6 bites
  1. 1What the deposition is for at trial
  2. 2Choosing who to depose, and in what order
  3. 3The person most qualified notice
  4. 4Document demands with the notice
  5. 5Percipient witness versus expert
  6. 6Remote depositions
02.02Taking the deposition 8 bites
  1. 1The three goals
  2. 2Question form that survives an objection
  3. 3Controlling the evasive witness
  4. 4Looping
  5. 5The one-fact question
  6. 6Locking down the record
  7. 7Exhibits at deposition
  8. 8Knowing when to stop
02.03Defending the deposition 7 bites
  1. 1Preparing your witness
  2. 2Form objections and what they preserve
  3. 3Speaking objections and the risk they carry
  4. 4Instructions not to answer
  5. 5Privilege at deposition
  6. 6The errata sheet
  7. 7Suspending or terminating
02.04The evidence rules that govern depositions 7 bites
  1. 1Ten rules for depositions: the overview
  2. 2Objections you must make or lose
  3. 3Objections you may reserve
  4. 4Foundation you must lay at the deposition
  5. 5Authentication at the deposition
  6. 6Hearsay at the deposition
  7. 7Expert opinion at the deposition
02.05Using the deposition at trial 6 bites
  1. 1Impeachment with a depositionFree sheet
  2. 2The three-step impeachment
  3. 3Former testimony and unavailability
  4. 4Berroteran and the party-opponent deposition
  5. 5Video depositions
  6. 6Designations and counter-designations
02.06Your own client's deposition 4 bites
  1. 1Should you examine your own client
  2. 2Rehabilitating at the deposition
  3. 3Correcting the record
  4. 4The client who has already been hurt
Library 03 · Experts

Expert Witnesses

Designation through cross, built around the two gatekeeping regimes and what actually persuades a judge to exclude an opinion.

6 modules
34 quick bites
1 open to everyone
03.01Designation, exchange and disclosure 6 bites
  1. 1The expert demand and designation
  2. 2What the designation declaration must say
  3. 3The supplemental exchange
  4. 4Federal Rule 26 disclosures
  5. 5Undesignated and late-designated experts
  6. 6Consulting versus testifying experts
03.02Qualifying and disqualifying 5 bites
  1. 1Qualifying an expert
  2. 2Voir dire of an expert
  3. 3Attacking qualifications
  4. 4The expert testifying outside his field
  5. 5Lay opinion versus expert opinion
03.03The gatekeeping motion 7 bites
  1. 1Sargon: reasoning, not credentialsFree sheet
  2. 2The three grounds for exclusion
  3. 3Rule 702 after the 2023 amendment
  4. 4Daubert, Joiner and Kumho in one bite
  5. 5Building the motion out of the deposition
  6. 6Expert declarations on summary judgment
  7. 7What the court may not do
03.04Deposing the expert 6 bites
  1. 1The expert file: what you can get
  2. 2Pinning every assumption to a source
  3. 3The reliance question
  4. 4Locking out new opinions
  5. 5Compensation and volume of testimony
  6. 6The questions that build the motion
03.05Cross-examining the expert 6 bites
  1. 1Evidence Code section 721
  2. 2Learned treatise impeachment
  3. 3Attacking methodology
  4. 4Exposing the advocacy expert
  5. 5Cross on compensation
  6. 6When not to cross an expert
03.06Damages experts 4 bites
  1. 1Lost profits and reasonable certainty
  2. 2The comparable that is not comparable
  3. 3Ajaxo v. E*Trade
  4. 4Cross-examining a valuation model
Library 04 · Trial Skills

Trial Skills

Opening through closing, on the assumption that the case is a documents case and the witnesses are sophisticated.

6 modules
41 quick bites
1 open to everyone
04.01The paper case 8 bites
  1. 1Building the exhibit list from the pleadings
  2. 2Business records at trial
  3. 3Official records
  4. 4Document summaries
  5. 5The secondary evidence rule at trial
  6. 6Emails and email chains
  7. 7Contracts, integration and parol evidence
  8. 8Settlement communications and section 1152
04.02Opening statement 6 bites
  1. 1Purpose and limits of opening
  2. 2Story versus argument
  3. 3The first five minutes
  4. 4Themes and labels
  5. 5Dealing with bad facts
  6. 6Promises you should never make
04.03Direct examination 7 bites
  1. 1Goals of direct examination
  2. 2Organizing a direct
  3. 3Building foundation through direct
  4. 4Avoiding leading questions
  5. 5Using documents on direct
  6. 6The corporate witness
  7. 7Humanizing your witness
04.04Cross-examination 8 bites
  1. 1The three goals of crossFree sheet
  2. 2Leading questions done right
  3. 3Controlling the witness
  4. 4Impeachment by inconsistency
  5. 5Impeachment by bias
  6. 6Impeachment with documents
  7. 7Destructive versus constructive cross
  8. 8When not to cross
04.05Exhibits and courtroom technology 6 bites
  1. 1Exhibit organization and numbering
  2. 2Exhibit binders and exhibit lists
  3. 3Moving an exhibit into evidence
  4. 4Demonstrative versus substantive exhibits
  5. 5Timelines
  6. 6Trial technology basics
04.06Closing argument 6 bites
  1. 1Building the closing before trial
  2. 2Using the jury instructions
  3. 3Arguing credibility
  4. 4Presumptions and inferences in closing
  5. 5The damages argument
  6. 6Rebuttal
Library 05 · War Room

The Trial War Room

Not a course. The drawer you open at 10:40 p.m. the night before, or at counsel table with the judge waiting. Every bite here is written to be read in under ninety seconds.

5 modules
28 quick bites
05.01I'm in trial tomorrow 6 bites
  1. 1The last-minute trial checklist
  2. 2Final witness preparation
  3. 3Exhibit preparation checklist
  4. 4Jury instruction checklist
  5. 5The night-before read of the elements
  6. 6What to bring to counsel table
05.02The judge just asked… 6 bites
  1. 1“Counsel, why is it relevant?”
  2. 2“Counsel, what's the foundation?”
  3. 3“Counsel, what's the hearsay exception?”
  4. 4“Counsel, where is the authority?”
  5. 5“Counsel, what's your offer of proof?”
  6. 6“Counsel, isn't this cumulative?”
05.03Emergency evidence 7 bites
  1. 1Your witness forgot
  2. 2Your opponent opened the door
  3. 3A surprise document at trial
  4. 4The witness changed his testimony
  5. 5The expert went beyond his designation
  6. 6Your objection was sustained. Now what
  7. 7The exhibit you forgot to authenticate
05.04Motions in limine 5 bites
  1. 1What belongs in limine and what does not
  2. 2The section 352 motion
  3. 3The Sargon motion
  4. 4Responding to a motion in limine
  5. 5Getting a ruling that sticks
05.05Preserving error 4 bites
  1. 1What preserves error and what does not
  2. 2The written offer of proof
  3. 3Running objections
  4. 4The record after an adverse ruling
Library 06 · Jury Selection

Jury Selection

The one library that is not about evidence. Built on Picked to Win and the JuryBoard workflow, for the two days of trial that decide more than any evidentiary ruling.

6 modules
34 quick bites
1 open to everyone
06.01Before voir dire 6 bites
  1. 1What voir dire is actually forFree sheet
  2. 2Researching the panel
  3. 3The juror questionnaire
  4. 4Time limits, and how to spend them
  5. 5Your theory of the ideal juror
  6. 6Setting up JuryBoard for the case
06.02Conducting voir dire 7 bites
  1. 1Opening the conversation
  2. 2Questions that make jurors talk
  3. 3The loop-back
  4. 4Raising your bad facts first
  5. 5Conditioning without arguing
  6. 6Reading the quiet juror
  7. 7Group dynamics and the panel leader
06.03Cause challenges 6 bites
  1. 1The standard for cause
  2. 2Building a cause challenge
  3. 3Rehabilitation, and how to stop it
  4. 4The judge who will not excuse
  5. 5Preserving the cause record
  6. 6Knowing when to stop pushing
06.04Peremptory challenges 6 bites
  1. 1How many, and how they work
  2. 2Sequencing your strikes
  3. 3Batson and Wheeler
  4. 4Responding to a Batson challenge
  5. 5The strike you will regret
  6. 6Ranking the panel in JuryBoard
06.05Reading the panel 5 bites
  1. 1What body language does and does not tell you
  2. 2Occupation, and why it matters less than you think
  3. 3Prior jury service
  4. 4The juror who wants to be on
  5. 5Scoring and ranking
06.06After the jury is sworn 4 bites
  1. 1Juror misconduct
  2. 2The alternate problem
  3. 3Talking to jurors after the verdict
  4. 4What the verdict teaches for the next one

No bite matches . Try a rule number, a code section, or a word from the title.

Who teaches it

David Sugden

Business trial lawyer and shareholder at Call & Jensen, Newport Beach. Every bite in this library comes from his experience in the courtroom.

At the whiteboard
Preliminary facts
Mid-sentence
Deposition Skills Clinic
Seated
Between sessions

Membership

You have seen the whole index. The membership opens it.

All four courses, sixteen hours of MCLE, the Trial War Room, and every video as it goes up. Thirty-day money-back guarantee.

Monthly
$99 / month
  • All 257 quick bites and cheat sheets
  • All four courses ($1,996 separately)
  • The Trial War Room
  • Cancel any time
Join now